The Love Triangle
by Cassandra Recarndo
Summary: When Jill Jenkins returns from the city, she doesn't expect to find her previous crush awaiting her... and another, waiting to steal her away. A JillxGrayxDoc fanfic
1. Arriving in Memory Lane

The farm was a wreck. Weeds were scattered all over the field, and the buildings that used to hold animals were falling apart. And yet… It still felt like home. I ran a hand through my brown hair, pondering over how I would handle all the new work that approached me.

"Excuse me!" A high pitched voice rang in my ears, alerting the presence of someone entering my farm. I turned to see a short man huffing up to me, his red top hat falling off of his balding head. He had obviously gained a lot of weight since I last saw him, and his age was starting to gain on him. "Miss Jenkins! I need to speak with you!"

"Tom, Tom. It's great to see you again." My voice was warm in my ears, but sad to my mind. He didn't notice.

"You've grown into quite the woman since I last saw you, Miss Jenkins." He was trying to be loud and proud, but his voice shook of fatigue. I watched as his eyes scanned over my 19 year old figure; the proud curve of my hips, the shimmer of my purple eyes, the slight blush that crept over my tan skin, the lovely shape my bosom had achieved, all these showed my aging.

I smiled slightly. "And you're starting to turn into an old man."

He scowled at me. "Watch it." He playfully growled, "If it weren't for me, you would still be in that old pub that I found you in."

My eyes turned to slits, wiping the smug look off his face. "What do you want, Thomas?"

"You know what I have to do. You're taking up the farm, so I must give my initiation speech."

I groaned internally as he started to drone on about what duties I had earned and when the shipping man would arrive. As he talked, my mind started to wander. I looked at the oak tree by the water pond, gazing at the fully grown bee hive. The thing used to be just a small honey comb the last time I was here…

"Daddyyyyy!" I screeched, running into my father's arms. His warm embrace made me giggle, and I couldn't stop smiling while looking at his smile. He looked just like me, but in boy-form. The only problem was that he was limping slightly from cancer, a tragedy that brought down my entire family.

My mother came out, her black hair falling over her green eyes. She was aging as well, but was stronger than most, seeing as she had to help around the farm more now that my father was ill. My father and I both looked over at her, despair covering our smiles. She wore the face of devastation; the look she had whenever bad news came from the doctor. A sad smile was delivered to me, but she gave Dad a glance that told him that she needed to speak to him privately.

I caught the hint, skipping around over to the honey tree. The hive was a small comb in one of the branches, a couple of bees swarming around it happily. The corners of my lips twitched a little, but I was unable to smile completely while knowing that something was happening to my father. I suddenly heard the soft sound of feet on the grass, and I looked over to see… Well this part I didn't remember. The face was blurry, but he looked about my age. I ran over to him, but stopped a couple inches from him.

We stood there for a minute, both lost for words. He was my best friend, I remember, and I always had romantic dreams about him, but never spoke of them. We were 14, so it was natural. Something inside of me told me I wouldn't see him for a long time, and I think he felt it too. We kissed, my first kiss in fact, and that might have been what made me so pained to see him go.

He was the blacksmith's grandson, so he was going to follow him around every where in order to become as great of a blacksmith as his grandfather. They were leaving that day to go on a journey to the great mountains of another valley, as to gather more minerals and ores. You could say that the kiss was our farewell.

He promised me he would come back, but I didn't know that I wouldn't be there.

My mind came back to reality as I realized Thomas was finishing up his speech.

"-And I do hope that you'll enjoy your time back here at Mineral Town!" He smiled at me, taking off his red hat and bowing.

I chuckled a little and bit him farewell, watching as he took his time leaving the ranch. As soon as he was out of sight, I ran into the small house that I was going to live in. My bed was already placed at the corner of the room, so I threw myself on there, letting silent tears fall onto the blue comforter. I was now remembering why I never visited this place when I was in the city. It brought back to many memories.

My father had died the night my friend had left, and my mother and I had left for the city, unable to take care of the farm by ourselves. Everything that I had grown up with was gone before I knew it, and I was suddenly living in an apartment in Japan, where my mother eventually remarried a business man and I studied farming. The spirit of my father was left in me, and I always promised myself to come back her and take care of the farm when I was ready.

Wiping the tears off of my face, I reminded myself that I should unpack the rest of my stuff before going and talking to the townsfolk for the first time in five years.


	2. Meeting the Doctor

I ended up keeping a lot in the boxes. I was weak from crying, like I always get, and didn't feel like lugging out my TV and table yet. Something inside of me wanted to put off seeing the townsfolk for a while, so I grabbed my sickle and went out to hack at weeds.

Sweat dripped off of my forehead as I made it through the field. I swear, if these weeds could grow any bigger, I'd be walking in a jungle. Every now and then I would run into a boulder or tree trunk, but I was too afraid to try and get rid of it. I doubted that my small axe and hammer would be able to crush them without breaking. Making a mental note to visit the blacksmith, I felt a small tingle of recognition from the mental image of the store. What about it made me remember it so clearly?

My train of thought was thrown off as I heard a small barking noise. I paused in my work, focusing on the barely audible sound. Ever so slowly, I traced it back to a small doghouse by the barn. A large piece of wood was blocking the exit, and something inside was shaking it in an attempt to escape. Using a lot of my strength, I pushed it aside, only to be trampled on by a tiny pup, which largely resembled the old dog my father owned. I laughed, playing around with the dog, which was happily jumping around the grass.

"I'm glad you found her, we knew that she had been born, but we never found her." A voice came from the farm entrance. "I wonder how she survived."

My gaze looked up from the puppy, to a black haired man leaning against my house. He wore a large white jacket that went down to his knees, covering his finely shaped muscles. Green eyes twinkled with humor as they scanned me, and I felt myself blushing and wishing I was wearing something else.

"Forgive me, but I don't believe we have met." I said, standing up and walking over to him. It was then I noticed the round stethoscope around his neck and the headgear he wore. "Or maybe we have."

"No, I'm the new doctor around here. Moved in just last year." He chuckled, watching the puppy jump around my feet. "I thought I would take you to the clinic today, as to set some medical record of your stay here. Being a farmer, I expect you'll come in frequently until you build up your stamina. But please, do not over exert yourself if you can." His eyes suddenly went from humorous to caring in an instant, and I wondered if this was how he treated everyone.

"Sure, I guess." I mumbled looking at my dog. It sat down as if saying, "I'll stay." Chuckling, I started to walk out of the farm with the doctor.

"Can I get your name?" I asked as we headed down the worn street. Is it a street? The size was that of a sidewalk's, and I struggled to give the doctor enough room to walk freely.

"Most just call me Doctor, but my real name is Alex. Alex Fredrick."

"Jill. Jill Jenkins." I smiled, reaching one hand over to shake his. He gladly shook it, but the grasp lingered a little bit longer than it should. The blush started coming over my face again as he let go, and I heard a small chuckle come from his throat. "What's so funny?" I asked, confused.

"Your skin flushes so easily. It's a nice shade with the tone of your skin." He laughed a little louder as my face went bright red. "I wonder, do you have any blood problems?"

"Uhm… Hypotension I believe." I stumbled over the words, my mind still racing over his compliment.

"Fascinating… But I suspected that you would have Hypertension instead, because low blood pressure doesn't trigger blushing as much as high blood pressure." He said softly, loosing himself in thought.

I had to laugh a little, which earned me a confused look. "My father always said my blood was special when I was diagnosed with Hypotension." I explained, looking around at the scenery as we approached the doctor's office.

He laughed along with me, grasping the door handle. "Yes, younger people, such as yourself, could say their blood is… special." I chuckled a little, but stopped abruptly at whom I saw inside the clinic.

Gray.


	3. Wanting

Everything about him was the same. His blonde hair. The worn cap. The deep blue eyes clouded over like a sea after a storm. But… His smile was gone. He carried a depressed mood around him, making me want to cry when I looked at the sorrow in his eyes. Looking at him, I now remembered who my first kiss was.

"Gray?" I said softly, disbelief surrounding my thoughts. "Is that you?"

He turned around slowly to face me, recognition creeping across his face as he looked at me. "Jill?" his voice was like honey, making me want to melt. "You're back…"

I couldn't help it. I ran over and hugged him, wanting nothing more than someone who I could relate to in this old town. He didn't return my hug at first, but his arms slowly wrapped around my waist. I could swear that a single tear fell onto my neck as well.

"Where've you been?" He asked shyly, pulling away to look into my eyes. "I came back from the mountains early to see you… And you were gone."

"I had to go to the city. We couldn't take care of the farm. It was too much for us to handle."

"Well you could have at least told me!" His tone suddenly became angry, and he pushed me to the side, away from him. "No note, no message, because you know it's so hard to tell someone that you're leaving!"

I stared at him, mouth ajar with shock. "I thought… That you would understand…"

"Yea well I think you could have at least said something to me before leaving." And with that, he stormed out of the clinic, leaving me confused and hurt. Alex suddenly cleared his throat, reminding me that we were in the middle of the clinic.

"Well, shall we get those tests done?" He said casually, acting like nothing had happened. I mouthed a thank you and followed him into another room. As he was drawing some blood for him to test, I blurted out, "Why is he like that? Gray, I mean."

"No one knows. He keeps to himself and works at the Blacksmith more often than he should. Not like he gets any better at it." He chuckled. "We've tried getting to know him, comforting him, but he won't budge. That's the most I've ever heard him talk."

I looked down at the ground, lost in thought. "I feel terrible for leaving him." I mumbled, mostly to myself.

"Don't. It's not your fault that he's acting this way."

"Might as well be. You saw the way he acted when he saw me. I must have something to do with this." I sighed, "That settles it. I'm going to find out what's wrong with him. Some how, I know I can do it."

"I wouldn't waste your breath." Alex said, standing up and bandaging her arm. "He's like a stone."

"Well I've done it before, I'll do it again." I said, crossing my arms. "So, thank you, Doctor Alex. I shall see you later."

The air outside was suddenly crisp as I stepped out of the clinic, making me smile. I missed this town, no matter how painful the memories where. I walked down the street, trying to think of where Gray would be. A small smirk blew over my mouth as I thought of the beach, where we ran around countless times trying to catch each other. I could still remember the laughter that came from his chest back then. Where did that go? And it was all because of me. I wanted to slap myself for leaving, but what could I do?

I walked into a shadow, and I looked up to see the library in front of me. I debated on going inside to read a book to get my mind off of Gray, and ended up walking through the door. "Hello?" I called, looking around, "Anyone here?"

"Oof!" I heard a muffled sound come from upstairs. Curious, I ran up to see a girl sitting on the floor, massaging her head. Her black hair was tied into a braid, and a pair of glasses were lying askew on the ground beside her. I smiled, picking them up and walking over to her.

"Mary, I believe these are yours." I chuckled, kneeling down and handing them to her.

"Who are you?" Her voice was squeaky and shaky, along with her hand as she reached out to grab my hand. Fixing them onto her nose, she looked up at me and gasped. "JILL!" She squealed, hugging me. "Ohmygosh, where have you been?"

"Same question a lot of people have been asking. Where do you think?" I said, helping her up.

"Have you seen Gray, yet?" she asked

"Yes…" I felt my voice tremble. "And he hates me."

"That's not true! Gray always talks about you any time he actually DOES talk!"

"Yea well when I saw him in the clinic, he wasn't too happy to see me."

"He's just mad because you didn't say good-bye. That's all."

"I know, but I thought that he understood that I probably wouldn't be there when we…" I broke off.

"What?" Mary asked, her eyes shimmering. "Did you… Ohmygosh did you guys do it?! When you were that young?"

"No!" I yelped, astounded, "No way! We… We kissed and I thought that a lot was passed between us back then."

"Oh." Mary sighed. "Oh well, I guess that I'll have to tell my mom that." I chuckled lightly at her remark. Her mother was the captain of the gossip circle in the town. "Well what happened at the clinic?"

I breezed through the conversation, trying to keep my voice strong as I got to the part where he shoved me. "And now I am confused and I don't know what to do!"

Mary was silent for a little bit, staring off into space as she pondered. "Well give him some space for the rest of today. I would talk to him tomorrow to see if things get better. That's how I confront him." She laughed softly as I gave her a confounded look, "Oh Gray and I have become close since you left. Not as close as you guys were, but close enough to call each other friends."

I didn't say anything for a little bit. Something was buzzing in my stomach that made me want to lunge at Mary for saying that she was close to Gray, and talking would just release that anger. I didn't like the thought of her being his friend, and the gleam in her eyes suggested that she cared for him in a romantic way. The buzz grew as I pictured them together, and I felt my hands go into fists. "I'm going to go back to the farm. Talk to you later." I mumbled, practically running out of the library.

Outside, I felt stupid. It wasn't a crime for Gray to have friends. I shouldn't have just expected everything to just fall back in place like old times. He isn't a piece of property. Tears started to build up in my eyes as I pictured Mary and Gray together, and I pushed the thought out of my mind to prevent more crying. _You can't be the only girl in his world, Jill,_ I thought to myself,_ You were gone for years, so it was time for him to move on."_

Well I might not be the only girl in his life anymore, but I'm going to try and become his friend once again.


	4. Confrontation

My breath was coming out in gasps as I finished chopping down half of the branches covering my field. "Ugh…" I muttered, "I really need to get back in shape." Putting down my axe, I looked around triumphantly at my handiwork. My entire field was clear except for some stones and the remainder of branches. I sighed, walking over to my make-shift tool shelf that I made on the outside of my house and placed all of my tools back before going inside my house.

I pulled out a cook book from my bookshelf and flipped through the pages, looking for the one thing I knew Gray liked: Baked Corn. Smiling to myself, I took one corn and placed it in the oven, watching as each individual piece of corn started to brown. An old picture flashed in my mind of Gray and me when we were about five years old, sitting by this exact oven. I stood up and started rummaging through the boxes that were still askew in my house, looking for the very same picture. Sure enough, it was sitting in my old rucksack from when I would work with my father. With trembling fingers, I pulled out the worn picture frame, the cherry wood paint chipping and the glass dusty. I blew lightly on it, watching the gray substance slowly reveal my two long braids brushing up against Gray's shoulder.

A tear fell onto the glass, snapping me out of my vision. I looked up at the ceiling, blinking back the tears that were begging to escape. I slowly placed the frame onto my bed, and walked over to the oven, wiping my eyes. The corn was just finishing, so I pulled it out and wrapped it with the green stalk that the corn was originally in. I smirked as I thought of what his reaction would be. I never really was a good cook until I went to the city. Poor Gray was my little guinea pig for all of my dishes. Suddenly, there was a knock at my door. "Who is it?" I called

"It's…. It's me." Said a soft voice that I knew too well. I opened the door with the corn in hand, fighting to keep my composure. There he was, covering his face with that famous blue cap of his to try and hide his emotions.

"Is there something you need, Gray?" I asked in a light tone, trying not to give away my happiness. "I thought that you were mad at me."

"Says who?" His voice immediately changed, his eyes becoming hostile while his nose flared.

I crossed my arms and leaned on the door frame as I spoke. "Says me! Seeing as you shoved me after not being able to see you for five years, it's not that hard to assume that you would be mad at me."

"It's not my fault you left me!"

"It's not mine either!" I contradicted, walking up closer to him, "You think I wanted to leave? You think I wanted my father to die? Hell no! If I could have chosen what we would have done, I would have never left."

There was an awkward pause as we both stood there, glaring at each other in silence. Gray was the first to notice that our faces were inches apart from each other. "Uh," He started, stepping back and looking away, "Look, I'm…. I'm sorry, I guess."

My eyes immediately softened at his apology. "It's alright. I was my fault for not telling you that I was leaving."

"No, no, it's alright. I shouldn't have assumed so much." Gray muttered, his voice almost inaudible, "I'll… just be going then." He started to walk away, but I stopped him.

"Hey," I chuckled, making him turn around, "heads up!" With that, I threw him the baked corn dish I made for him. He smiled a little and walked out of the farm entrance.

**Author's Note: Hey! Sorry for not posting in a long time. So many things have been preoccupying my time that I haven't been able to write! I just barely got in this much. Sorry for the short chapter!~**


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